Typical motor vehicle steering wheels have circular steel rims and steel spokes covered by molded foam pads. In connecting the spokes to the rim, it has been common practice to form a plurality of raised projections on the ends of the spokes and to resistance weld the spokes to the rim by pressing the outside surface of the rim against the raised projections while passing electric current across the interface between the projections and the rim. A prior steering wheel has been proposed in which the projections on the spokes have concavities or multiple points of engagement to increase the area of contact between the spokes and rim and also to assist in positioning the rim and spokes in preparation for welding. In other prior steering wheels, where the spokes are solid bars and the rim is a ring made of hollow steel tube, the tube is internally reinforced by solid steel slugs installed in the tube before the latter is formed into its ring-shape and welded closed. The slugs prevent distortion of the tubular rim during resistance welding. A steering wheel and method according to this invention is a novel alternative to the aforesaid prior proposals.